The subject invention relates to luggage cases generally, especially so-called upright luggage cases having mostly textile front panels, with separately accessible volume pockets mounted on the main access door of the main packing compartment. More particularly, the subject invention relates to a simple method for assembling such volume pockets, and the door on which they are arrayed, from known textile construction materials.
In the prior art type luggage case typified by FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the overall luggage case is a generally 6-sided box shape with the main or front wall comprising a self-hinged door zippered to the front of the main packing compartment. The door includes at least two pockets, one above the other. Each of the volume pockets is assembled by a peripheral rail member sewn to the main zipper accessing door, with each rail having a pocket face of textile material stitched to the rail using an edge beading or the like. Further, zippered access may be had through the face of the pocket (as shown in the lower door of FIG. 1) or along an upper portion of the rail, such as that shown in the upper pocket of FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the prior art system where each pocket rail has a substantially uniform depth dimension creating luggage pockets with a similar parallelopiped shape. The space between the upper and lower volume pockets comprises essentially two thicknesses of rail material with a narrow gap therebetween. Both the upper and lower volume pockets are defined at their outermost edges by the edge beading as set forth above. The back of the prior art luggage case is similar to that of the instant invention in that it includes an upwardly extendible handle assembly for wheeling the case on the fixed axis wheels shown at the lowermost corners of the case.
While such prior art cases present pockets with substantial packing volume, the sewing and cutting operations to create these separately defined pockets are fairly complex. The present invention teaches a simple construction technique that defines two visually and functionally distinct volume pockets on the main packing door of an upright case that are simple to construct yet are easy to understand and operate. Accordingly, the disclosed luggage case improvement comprises a first volume pocket carried by the main access door of an upright luggage case, this first volume pocket being constructed of a generally inverted U-shaped textile panel attached along its outermost edges across the top edge of the access door and down a substantial portion of the access door on either side of the top edge, and a door panel for this first pocket which is affixed in the bite of this U-shaped panel to form a three dimensional shape of the first pocket. This first pocket is accessible from the outside of the case. Below this first pocket is a second pocket extending the full width dimension of the access door and affixed at its upper edge to the lower edge of the first pocket. Thus, the second pocket forms, together with this first pocket, upstanding sides which extend around the entire periphery of the access door and define a packing volume on the main access door.